Background

Technology has transformed our society into a global marketplace where every citizen has immediate access to unlimited information and to an abundance of continually newer and better services and goods. This highly competitive environment demands that one possess the skills and knowledge to use technology resourcefully as both a consumer and a worker.

Technology has also fundamentally transformed the customs and composition of our society. For example, we use technology daily to communicate across vast distances, and our lives are longer and healthier because of breakthroughs in technology and the use of technology to generate breakthroughs in the field of Science.

Technological exploration and innovation facilitate constant changes to our world and how we inhabit it, so it’s little wonder that we must now redesign education to reflect a new human paradigm.

A national report released March 2006 identified "three fundamental ideas about today’s high schools that are not yet widely perceived.

• There are results that matter for high school graduates in the 21st century – and these results are different from and go beyond traditional metrics.
• Improving high schools requires the nation to redefine “rigor” to encompass not just mastery of core academic subjects, but also mastery of 21st century skills and content.
• The results that matter – 21st century skills integrated with core academic subjects – should be the “design specs” for creating high schools that are truly effective for students and the nation." ( Results That Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform , Partnership for 21st Century Skills)

Integrating technology so that our schools emulate our home and work environments is not enough. Technology is one of the most significant tools available today to facilitate and support new models of teaching, learning, and meaningful assessment. Yet, according to the most recent PA Technology Inventory survey, student technology use is not increasing throughout the state and school computer deployment remains at 2002 levels. On average, eight students must share one computer inPennsylvania classrooms. The same survey indicates technology-related professional development activities are decreasing and 25% of our teachers remain non-users or beginners. We must address these inequities in technology access and ensure that educators at all levels have information and technology literacy if we expect to impact student performance.

Under Governor Edward G. Rendell’s vision and leadership and on the platform for infrastructure established through the E-Fund and E-rate , Pennsylvania is currently building high-speed connectivity to all classrooms to enable 21st Century education to flourish in Pennsylvania . These connections will make it possible to support timely and global communication and collaboration in classrooms.

We now must take the next steps toward ensuring that schools take advantage of this infrastructure by putting appropriate tools into the hands of our students and training our teachers and administrators. It is with these goals in mind that we are undertaking this initiative.

Purpose

Classrooms for the Future seeks to comparably equip every core curricular classroom in public high schools and AVTS/CTC across the Commonwealth; however, this initiative is not about what schools get – it’s about what they get out of it.

The introduction of technology into a classroom focuses, at first, on the technology as teachers and students alike become familiar with a new tool. However, once the novelty is gone and technology is as common as a textbook or a pencil, it can be overlooked and under-utilized. Just as a teacher creates lesson plans based upon textbook passages or assigns written work, technology must be frequently and similarly employed if it is to become seamlessly integrated with teaching and learning.

Classrooms for the Future is about recognizing and embracing the need for reform, understanding the role of technology as change agent, and adopting practices that may be unfamiliar.

For teachers, it can be about moving from lecturer to facilitator of student-driven work. But every destination begins with a single step and technology-enabled project-based modules are a great way to start the journey.

Role of the CFF Coach

CFF instructional technology coaches serve as part of their school’s leadership team, providing just in time, embedded and ongoing professional development for teachers, staff, and administration. Coaches work with school staff to develop the on-site capacity of schools to sustain and deepen teachers’ ability to integrate instructional technology into classroom lessons in core academic areas, use data to make informed instructional choices, and promote instruction that is differentiated for students.